Post by skytzo on Oct 5, 2012 10:17:36 GMT -5
Wow. What a fantastic show!! I have to say, even after seeing the various youtube vids, it exceeded my expectations. First off, Ian's voice was pretty strong, much better than when I last saw him in '08. That said, the addition of Ryan O'Donnell was probably the best move he could have made for this undertaking....Ryan's vocals were excellent. He didn't sing the parts exactly as Ian did on the original, but he also didn't stray too far from the original phrasing or go over the top and sing it "Broadway" style, which I had feared considering his background. Speaking of which, I never found his stage antics to be distracting or campy - I think he interacted well with Ian and the rest of the guys as well.
Speaking of the rest of the guys....what a great band of musicians Ian has assembled! Super tight, played TAAB1 true and accurate to the original (no small feat, that!) and they really shined on the new stuff, which is not surprising since they played on it. Let me get this out of the way first - yes, of course I would want to have Martin up there, nobody will ever take his place in Tull IMHO. That said, Florian was phenomenal! He's obviously got that Martin tone/vibe/feel thing in his playing (which is great for reproducing TAAB1) but at the same time, I didn't feel like he was a Martin rip-off, if that makes sense. He's got his own style and he brings a great energy to the band - I guess being young helps there!
Being a drummer, I paid alot of attention to Scott Hammond. To sum up his performance: Barrie Barlow is my hero and Scott definitely would make my hero proud with his playing on TAAB1. I just looked up his bio...the guy is the same age as me! If only I had half of his skill level on the drums....huge kudos, and I am now officially a big fan of his.
David Goodier was super solid. He probably stood out the least to me, but then again it can be said that that is a huge compliment to be paid to a bass player.
Surprisingly to me, I'd have to say that I found John O'Hara to be the MVP of the band (besides Ian of course). His Hammond playing and sound was just HUGE. John Evan's Hammond organ playing was probably one of the most distinctive and important elements to TAAB1 (IMHO) and O'Hara played all of those parts impeccably. Not to mention his Hammond playing on the new album which is one of the most distinct sounds that give it a classic Tull vibe & sound. The guy is a consummate professional (as if Ian would have anything less) and I was extremely impressed with his playing - especially on the accordion during A Change Of Horses - and I'm no big fan of the "squeezy thing". ;D
And what can you say about Ian? At 65, he's still got it. That's what makes his voice betraying him all the more tragic....other than that, he's still musically & creatively on top of his game and still has the energy to be an entertaining showman. A few years ago, I don't think I would be typing this, but the new album is such an impressive late career renaissance and now that I've seen the live show, holy shit is that true!
Now, my only nitpicks. Apparently, us dumb American fans just have to hear Aqualung and Locomotive Breath, so in order for them to play those two songs as an encore, one small bit of TAAB1 and some huge chunks of TAAB2 were cut out to make room for that. At the end of "side 1", Ryan did a quick little weather report bit, then they went right into "In the clear white circles...." They cut out the prostate awareness bit and the whole babies wearing nylons, drum solo, side 2 intro. Bummer. But the omissions from TAAB2 were much more egregious - no Pebbles Instrumental, Upper Sixth Loan Shark, Swing It Far, Power & Spirit, Give 'Till It Hurts or Cozy Corner. I'd gladly trade the encores to have heard the entire album in full, but it is what it is.
In spite of that, this was the best Tull, er I mean Ian show I've seen in many, many years. My dad agreed! I burned him a CD of the new album months ago, but he didn't really get the chance to listen to it intently until about a month ago. Luckily, he had enough time to immerse himself in it and absolutely loves it (favorite song - Kismet In Suburbia). Dad was in all his glory for this show, let me tell you. ;D Here we are, a few minutes before show time....some of you USA Tull convention goers may recognize Gary and I :
I tried taking some pics with my iPhone, but they came out blurry and shitty. Oh well....check out some of the other threads, it looked pretty much the same. ;D
Anybody still on the fence about going to this tour? DO IT!!! You won't regret it!
Speaking of the rest of the guys....what a great band of musicians Ian has assembled! Super tight, played TAAB1 true and accurate to the original (no small feat, that!) and they really shined on the new stuff, which is not surprising since they played on it. Let me get this out of the way first - yes, of course I would want to have Martin up there, nobody will ever take his place in Tull IMHO. That said, Florian was phenomenal! He's obviously got that Martin tone/vibe/feel thing in his playing (which is great for reproducing TAAB1) but at the same time, I didn't feel like he was a Martin rip-off, if that makes sense. He's got his own style and he brings a great energy to the band - I guess being young helps there!
Being a drummer, I paid alot of attention to Scott Hammond. To sum up his performance: Barrie Barlow is my hero and Scott definitely would make my hero proud with his playing on TAAB1. I just looked up his bio...the guy is the same age as me! If only I had half of his skill level on the drums....huge kudos, and I am now officially a big fan of his.
David Goodier was super solid. He probably stood out the least to me, but then again it can be said that that is a huge compliment to be paid to a bass player.
Surprisingly to me, I'd have to say that I found John O'Hara to be the MVP of the band (besides Ian of course). His Hammond playing and sound was just HUGE. John Evan's Hammond organ playing was probably one of the most distinctive and important elements to TAAB1 (IMHO) and O'Hara played all of those parts impeccably. Not to mention his Hammond playing on the new album which is one of the most distinct sounds that give it a classic Tull vibe & sound. The guy is a consummate professional (as if Ian would have anything less) and I was extremely impressed with his playing - especially on the accordion during A Change Of Horses - and I'm no big fan of the "squeezy thing". ;D
And what can you say about Ian? At 65, he's still got it. That's what makes his voice betraying him all the more tragic....other than that, he's still musically & creatively on top of his game and still has the energy to be an entertaining showman. A few years ago, I don't think I would be typing this, but the new album is such an impressive late career renaissance and now that I've seen the live show, holy shit is that true!
Now, my only nitpicks. Apparently, us dumb American fans just have to hear Aqualung and Locomotive Breath, so in order for them to play those two songs as an encore, one small bit of TAAB1 and some huge chunks of TAAB2 were cut out to make room for that. At the end of "side 1", Ryan did a quick little weather report bit, then they went right into "In the clear white circles...." They cut out the prostate awareness bit and the whole babies wearing nylons, drum solo, side 2 intro. Bummer. But the omissions from TAAB2 were much more egregious - no Pebbles Instrumental, Upper Sixth Loan Shark, Swing It Far, Power & Spirit, Give 'Till It Hurts or Cozy Corner. I'd gladly trade the encores to have heard the entire album in full, but it is what it is.
In spite of that, this was the best Tull, er I mean Ian show I've seen in many, many years. My dad agreed! I burned him a CD of the new album months ago, but he didn't really get the chance to listen to it intently until about a month ago. Luckily, he had enough time to immerse himself in it and absolutely loves it (favorite song - Kismet In Suburbia). Dad was in all his glory for this show, let me tell you. ;D Here we are, a few minutes before show time....some of you USA Tull convention goers may recognize Gary and I :
I tried taking some pics with my iPhone, but they came out blurry and shitty. Oh well....check out some of the other threads, it looked pretty much the same. ;D
Anybody still on the fence about going to this tour? DO IT!!! You won't regret it!